Door handles used to make weapons at youth prison

Inmates at a young offender institution (YOI) in West Yorkshire are using door handles and food trolleys to make weapons, according to an inspection report.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons surveyed young people aged 12 to 18 in custody at four institutions, including Wetherby YOI, between April 2025 and March this year.

Its report found inmates at Wetherby had been constructing makeshift weapons following a ban on razor blades, with the new weapons considered more dangerous than those previously used.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said a "youth custody transformation plan" was being developed to improve safety and "create an environment where rehabilitation can succeed".

According to the report, levels of violence "remained much too high" at all of the institutions.

Almost 500 assaults had been recorded at Wetherby, it said.

Children had used aluminium door sheets, windows and fencing to fashion weapons from.

Metal detecting wands had sometimes failed to detect the weapons children were carrying, the report said.

High levels of violence and self-harm have previously been uncovered at Wetherby, which houses about 300 young males, with more than 500 "improvised weapons" found there over an eight-month period last year.

The other institutions inspected were Werrington in Staffordshire, Parc in Bridgend, South Wales, Feltham A in West London and Oakhill Secure Training Centre in Milton Keynes.

Responding to the report's findings, Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said that while some institutions had made progress, "standards across the youth estate remain woeful".

"Children continue to be exposed to high levels of violence, spend too much time locked in their cells and are frequently unable to access the education and support they need to turn their lives around," he said.

In interviews, 39% of children said they had felt unsafe at some point during their time in custody.

The report did praise the governor at Wetherby, Mark Scott, who inspectors said had been "creative in the face of poor education provision, focusing on improving work and vocational training".

This had improved the amount of time some children spent out of their cells, it said.

An MoJ spokesperson said its youth justice white paper, which it describes as a "comprehensive programme of reform to modernise the system", would "help strengthen earlier intervention to stop children from getting caught up in crime in the first place".

The spokesperson said there were no timescales for implementing the white paper, while the youth custody transformation plan - a separate initiative - was due to be launched later this year.

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